World Golf Tour

Casey fine after SHO WD

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Paul Casey, No. 6 in the world ranking and an early Masters betting favorite, upended the line last week when he pulled out of the Shell Houston Open, where he was the defending champion.

On Tuesday Casey’s manager Guy Kinnings with IMG said his man was 100 percent healthy for the year’s first major championship.

“He’s fine,” Kinnings said. “He slept in a bad position (last Tuesday night) and after going through what he had last year trying to play through an injury and things just getting worse he wanted to be careful. He did the right thing.”

Casey played an 18-hole practice round on Monday at Augusta National and planned to play at least nine holes on Tuesday.

Kinnings said Casey was disappointed he couldn’t defend in Houston, but admitted in many ways the early withdrawal worked out perfectly because it allowed the Englishman extra time to practice and rest for the Masters and likely reduced many of the pundit’s expectations on him.

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Hoggard, a senior writer, covers the PGA Tour and appears on-air in several capacities.